Tag Archives: Canucks

Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Canucks – And then there were none…

McDavid vs Canucks

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (30-42-7, 67 pts. 4-6 in their last 10) vs Calgary Flames (32-40-6, 70 pts. 4-5-1 in their last 10)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Time: 8:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: CBC – Radio: 630 CHED

THANK YOU!

Thank you all for reading my work throughout the course of this season. To know some of you seek out my work over others is very kind, and keeps me doing what I do.

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

 

Just like that, 82 games will have come and gone.

In a season filled with disappointments, it cannot be lost the success the Oilers have seen this year. I will be taking a look at these success over the next few days, and will have a post coming shortly.

Through all of the highs, and all of the lows it sucks to see the Oilers season go.

This season, the Oilers have fared very well against the Canucks outscoring them 10 – 4 and winning three of four games. Darnell Nurse, who took a puck to the throat during Wednesday’s game against the Flames, could return to the lineup tonight.

“Doctors have, from what I understand, cleared him, so if he is ready to play, we’ll play him,” coach Todd McLellan said. “He is a tough customer and that’s part of what makes him an attractive player.”

This article is tough to write, and I must say I don’t even know what to say. The season is over, and to tell you the truth I have been checked out of this season a few weeks ago.

When you have followed the Oilers for 11 years and the team has missed the playoffs in 10 of those, it is difficult to stay interested.

To be fair though, I really hope the Oilers come out and kick the snot out of Vancouver.

Predictions for tonight:

  1. Oilers win 69-0.
  2. There are 420 penalty minutes tonight.
  3. CONNOR MCDAVID HATTRICK!

Canucks Preview:
Vancouver didn’t practice Friday coming off back-to-back games, which included the loss to the Oilers and a 7-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. The Canucks called up forward Mike Zalewski from Utica of the American Hockey League on Friday. It is the second call up for the 23-year-old since signing a contract in January; he had one assist in two games and is expected to replace defenseman Andrey Pedan, who had been playing as a forward, on the fourth line. Vancouver is 3-10-1 in its past 14 games going into the season finale. “This is the worst I’ve ever been a part of since I’ve been here,” forward Jannik Hansen, who has played nine NHL seasons for the Canucks, said after the loss in Calgary. “It hasn’t been very fun.”

— NHL.com

Line Combos and Starting Goalies:

Oilers (Cam Talbot):

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Iiro Pakarinen
Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Lauri Korpikoski – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Jordan Oesterle – Griffin Reinhart
Darnell Nurse – Adam Pardy

EDM Injuries: Oscar Klefbom (leg infection), Andrew Ference (hip), Eric Gryba (knee), Benoit Pouliot (shoulder), Brandon Davidson (knee).

Vancouver Canucks (Jacob Markstrom):

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alex Burrows
Michael Zalewski – Markus Granlund – Jannik Hansen
Ronalds Kenins – Brendan Gaunce – Jake Virtanen
Emerson Etem – Bo Horvat – Derek Dorestt

Dan Hamhuis – Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton – Nikita Tryamkin
Matt Bartkowski – Alex Biega

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter.

Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Canucks – Let’s go on a run, shall we?

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (28-38-7, 63 pts. 6-4 in their last 10) vs Vancouver Canucks (27-30-12, 66 points. 4-6 in their last 10)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta

Time: 7:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet West – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

73 down, 9 to go.

What does the end of the season look like for the Oilers? Well, three of the last nine games include matchups against the Vancouver Canucks. The toughest remaining games will include draws against the Sharks, Kings, Ducks and Coyotes.

The Oilers have an opportunity to put a few games together at the end of the year. Is it out of the realm of possibility for the Oilers to go .500 the rest of the way? I don’t. It could have implications on the ability to have the highest chance to win the lottery draft, but there are some real quality players in the four to eight range that could really benefit the Oilers.

The Oilers and Canucks have split the two games played already this year, with each team winning 2-1 in OT. Oddly enough, both teams that won the game lost in the possession game.

“They’re in a similar boat to us where they’re trying to continue to lay their foundation down with a number of young players and those young players have produced lately, the second half of the year the Horvats and those type of players have been very good,” said McLellan. “But I still believe it runs through [the Sedin’s] and their ability to cycle and play on their backhands and create time and space for their teammates. That’s a huge challenge for our team. We’ve worked real hard all year to play better in our zone and they’re going to test it tonight for sure.”

Like any game against the Canucks, the challenge is to contain the Sedin’s. Combined, they have scored 161 points in 165 career games against Edmonton.

The recent decisions by the Oilers coaching staff to combine size with skill throughout the line-up has already begun to pay dividends. Maroon has been a nice fit the last few games with McDavid and Eberle, while Iiro Pakarinen has played alongside Hall and Draisaitl.

Pakarinen has two points (1G-1A) in his last two games. 

The Canucks have seemingly had the Oilers number for some time now winning seven of the last 10 games. However, the Oilers have kept the last three games close, bringing them all to OT. 

Cam Talbot, who has a .935 sv% in his last 10 starts, gets the start tonight. 

Quotes from oilers.nhl.com.

Predictions for tonight:

  1. Oilers beat the Canucks 3-0.
  2. Former Canuck Zack Kassian scores.
  3. CAM TALBOT SHUTOUT!!!!!

Last games predictions and results:

  1. Oilers win 3-1.
  2. Patrick Maroon fights David Backes for all the crap he has done to the Oilers in the last few years. Nobody gets hurt, but Maroon gets the W.
  3. Darnell Nurse returns, plays over 20 minutes and is a positive CF player in his first game back.

The Oilers won 6-4! Maroon and Backes didn’t fight, but they did do some jawing.

 

Canucks Preview:

Goalie Jacob Markstrom will start after Ryan Miller made 31 saves in a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Hansen (ribs) did not practice Thursday and will miss the next two games. Defenseman Alex Biega will play after missing one game with an upper-body injury. Vancouver is 28th in the NHL with 163 goals and tied for 26th with 36 power-play goals. “We have to get our D involved more, I don’t think our D is involved as much as they were in the past,” coach Willie Desjardins told the Canucks website Thursday. “I think our power play has to be a little bit better. We got to get a few more off the power play. Plus, we have to get more power plays. We just don’t get enough power plays.”

— NHL.com

Line Combos and Starting Goalies:

Oilers (Cam Talbot):

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Iiro Pakarinen
Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Lauri Korpikoski – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Jordan Oesterle
Darnell Nurse – Adam Clendening

EDM Injuries: Oscar Klefbom (leg infection), Andrew Ference (hip), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hand), Eric Gryba (knee), Benoit Pouliot (shoulder), Brandon Davidson (knee), Adam Pardy (hand).

Vancouver Canucks (Jacob Markstrom):

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alexandre Grenier
Brendan Gaunce – Bo Horvat – Jake Virtanen
Sven Baertschi – Linden Vey – Emerson Etem
Alexandre Burrows – Jared McCann – Radim Vrbata

Ben Hutton – Christopher Tanev
Dan Hamhuis – Matt Bartkowski
Andrey Pedan – Nikita Tryamakin

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter.

Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Oilers vs Canucks Preview – A Boxing Day Brawl

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (15-18-2) at Vancouver Canucks (13-14-9)

Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia

Time: 7:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: CBC – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

Merry belated Christmas to you and your families. I hope the holidays were everything you wanted them to be, and I wish you all the best in 2016.

After a five day break, the Oilers look to get back into the action against our division rival Vancouver Canucks that has lost six of their last ten games. On the other hand, the Oilers are coming into tonight’s game after breaking a three game losing streak after beating the Winnipeg Jets 3-1.

Coach Todd McLellan said no one has lost faith in Talbot despite the disparity in playing time. “Because [Nilsson] had that run doesn’t mean that the group in the room or the coaching staff or anybody else didn’t believe in Cam,” McLellan told the Oilers website Tuesday. “We just ran a hot goalie for a while, and maybe we’ll do that again because obviously Cam played tremendous.”

This is a great opportunity for the team to find their ways of the big win streak earlier. It is still unknown what we have in this team, but as I have stated before I firmly believe this is a team that can compete for the eight to ten spot in the Western Conference standings.

The Oilers begin a 5 game trip against teams in the Pacific Division. If we want any chance at getting advancement in the standings these are the games we need to be winning.

After playing the Canucks in Vancouver tonight, the team visits Calgary tomorrow night. On Tuesday, the Kings come into town while on Thursday the Oilers face off against Anaheim at home. The five game Pacific trip finished Saturday in Edmonton, when the Oilers faceoff against Arizona.

Four points separate the Oilers (32 points, 6th in Pacific) and the Sharks (36 points, 2nd in Pacific).

The Otherside:

Vancouver comes out of the break with seven straight home games. Their 14 home games are the second-fewest in the Western Conference, and their five home wins are tied for the fewest in the League. Part of having success at home will be staying out of the penalty box; the Canucks have been shorthanded 125 times, second-most in the League. That includes giving the Tampa Bay Lightning 10 power plays in a 2-1 victory Tuesday. “If the [penalty kill] wasn’t on, that was going to be a 5-1 game or something like that,” forward Jannik Hansen told the Vancouver Province. The Canucks killed nine of 10 Lightning power plays, but for the season they’re 22nd on the penalty kill at 79.2 percent.

Line Combos and Starting Goalies c/o Left Wing Lock:


Oilers (Cam Talbot):
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski
Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera
Justin Schultz – Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin – Eric Gryba

Vancouver Canucks (Jacob Markstrom):
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi – Bo Horvat – Radim Vrbata
Alexandre Burrows – Jared McCann – Derek Dorsett
Adam Cracknell – Linden Vey – Brandon Prust

Alexander Edler – Andrey Pedan
Matt Bartowski – Alex Biega
Ben Hutton – Yannick Weber

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l8u1FP2EMg]